Nathaniel Cenric
Nathaniel Cenric is a human pro-Nova advocate. He is moderately wealthy and runs the Society for Evolutionary Advocacy and Research (SEAR), an organization devoted to promoting human advancement by way of accelerated evolution, such as the Novas experienced. History Nathaniel was the first and only child of Frederick and Katharine Cenric, the joint owners of Destriant Pharmaceuticals, a company that mainly researched and produced medications for a variety of illnesses. It was a rather successful company with a net worth approaching the billion dollar marker when Nathaniel was born, and it only continued to grow. As such, he experienced the best education that could be purchased and wanted for very little. His parents endeavored to keep him from becoming an entitled brat, since they both came from middle class backgrounds and did not want to see their son become a spoiled rich kid, and it worked out more or less. Nathaniel entered adolescence as a relatively well-adjusted kid who just happened to have wealthy parents. When he was 14, in 2023, Nathaniel became rather envious and jealous of Novas. He was being primed to inherit his parents' company, and the money and power that came with it, but he had little interest in that in his rebellious teen years. Science had always been his favorite subject in school, especially evolution and all that went with it, so he quickly latched onto the idea that Novas were the next evolutionary step of humanity. He was not the first or the last to take that view, but he was certainly one of the most fervent in the belief of the idea. Being rich was nice and all, but being on the cutting edge of human advancement was something far greater. Given enough time to seethe and fester, Nathaniel's jealousy might have led him toward hatred and joining a group like Project Exodus; however, his father caught it and turned his path with some simple logic. The Novas were created by scientific experimentation, so perhaps it could be emulated or even improved upon by modern day ingenuity and brilliance. From then on Nathaniel made it his goal in life to find a way to ascend past the constraints of homo sapiens, to acquire powers greater than or equal to that of the Novas, and to spread this advancement to everyone so none would be left behind. He set himself to his schoolwork with a fierce determination, and after graduating high school early when he was 17 he attended the University of California in Berkeley and acquired a Master's Degree in Biochemistry. Rather than fully devoting himself to research after leaving college, Nathaniel decided to use some of the wealth and power afforded by his parents to inspire others toward his goals. He had acquired a group of friends over the course of his education who held similar desires to see humanity move up to the next rung of the evolutionary ladder, many of them also from wealthy or influential backgrounds, and so they formed an organization called the Society for Evolutionary Advocacy and Research, or SEAR for short. Their goals were to spread the ideals of glorious evolution and to research ways to efficiently bring it about sooner than the natural spread of Novas was likely to be. Over the following two years, SEAR rose to the forefront of pro-Nova groups, perhaps helped in large part by the fact that it was run by regular humans rather than Novas themselves. Nathaniel wrote some rather well received dissertations, essays, and one lengthy book on what he coined as "human advancement," the concept that humanity was ever advancing in both technology and biology and that this inexorable march of progress should be greeted with open arms; the parts that seemed to lose some support were those that said artificial advancement, such as what caused the creation of Novas, was just as valid a step forward as the natural evolutionary processes. In 2033, SEAR fought the Protection Act as best it could, but the fears of Congress and the general populace overcame both the logical arguments and large campaign donations made by members of SEAR. Nathaniel's response to this was quoted by many news sources that day: "We have made a step backwards as a species this day, fearing what lies ahead in our path rather than walking forward with confidence. SEAR holds high the torch of progress, a beacon for all who would move onward with their heads held high, but that torch can just as easily become the brand that sparks a revolution. I only hope my fellow humans come to their senses before that becomes necessary." Although Nathaniel's words were rather heated, SEAR remains committed to a peaceful path after the so-called "Protection" Act was passed. His parents maintain a public neutrality to the whole affair, but they have given Nathaniel's (and, by extension, SEAR's) efforts their tacit approval by not cutting off his income. Research continues on ways to cause evolution, though none show much promise in the early stages. The organization continues to put out advertisements and information about their goals, now including things saying how the Nova protection camps are just like the Japanese internment camps of World War II, and perhaps will devolve into Nazi-like concentration camps if the mindless fear and hatred wasn't stopped. Nathaniel added a new goal to SEAR's internal mission statement in the wake of the Protection Act passing: to ensure the freedom of all Novas and to secure equal rights for Novas under the law. Some, including Nathaniel himself, have already taken to an abolitionist route and offer their aid and protection to Novas, including offering to take them out of the United States and thus away from the oppressive laws. Nathaniel has of late almost completely set aside his personal research into creating some new evolution serum and instead devotes his time to other work with SEAR. He has been generally demonized by the media lately for his vocal support of Novas and his radical ideas that they are truly superior to regular humans, but he hasn't let this bother him. All that matters to Nathaniel is that remaining childhood dream, to see all of humanity evolve and advance along with the Novas, and he's sure as hell not going to let some law and ignorant bigotry stop him. Personality +Intelligent: Nathaniel graduated from one of the top universities in the world with a master's degree in biochemistry and could have easily attained further merits had he cared to do so. Scholarly activities have always come rather easily to him, and he's a quick and logical thinker. His main weapon is not his brawn or his deep pockets, it is his brain, and it's a damned sharp weapon at that. +Determined: When Nathaniel sets his mind to something, it gets done. He is unshakable in pursuit of a goal, focused almost to a fault. No amount of hurdles to jump or setbacks encountered will deter him if he believes the goal is still attainable; not only is he able to see that glimmer of hope in the darkness of defeat where others go blind, he has a knack for fanning it into the shining light of success in the end. +Confident: Nathaniel is highly confident in both his abilities and his goals. Just as he knows his intellect will solve any problem he encounters, he also knows that his stances on all issues are the correct and righteous ones. His is not the sly confidence of charm and persuasion, though perhaps some will be swayed by it nonetheless, it is the quiet surety that comes with strong resolve and self-control. '-Idealistic:' The flip side to Nathaniel's determination is that he tends to focus it on very lofty goals rather than setting realistic goals to pursue. He will often get frustrated with people who can't see the big picture like him, who focus on minor details on the day-to-day scale. The guy is still doggedly chasing his childhood dream of having superpowers after all, so in some ways he's not as rational and logical as you'd expect from a bloody scientist. '-Nova Tinted Glasses:' Due to the pedestal Nathaniel places Novas on, he's likely to give them the benefit of the doubt even if they don't deserve it. Thefts were clearly committed for survival in a highly prejudicial world, assaults were merciful incidents of self defense where the Nova probably could have killed the person with their powers, and murders were definitely done in self defense when hate-filled bigots tried to attack them. It would take undeniable evidence of a Nova's ill-intended wrongdoing for Nathaniel to believe them a bad person. '-Pacifist:' Nathaniel is highly opposed to hurting anyone to achieve his goals. When he speaks of revolution in the context of Novas, he's really speaking of a revolution in their way of thinking, in accepting Novas rather than hating them, not a violent overthrow. The only instances in which he finds violence just are in self defense and in dealing with those who have proven they have such little regard for the lives of others that it would be a crime against humanity and/or Novakind to allow them to continue breathing. Relationships Veronica Price (knows her by the simple alias M) - Known through SEAR Other Nathaniel's parents are the rich ones, not him per se. While he has some deep pockets, most of that money goes toward general advocacy stuff for SEAR, so he won't be easily able to bankroll a Nova army or anything.